Thank you guys! We are at DFW airport heading that way - I have a cabin on a large stretch of Cosby Creek a couple miles below the park, so we have a quarter mile of so of that to fish. Some stockers and wilds mixed together.

I'll be sure to let everyone know how I come out.

I love this forum - I've learned so much. Until a year ago I didn't even know what a dropper rig was.

I've fished countless times with a dry fly and gone the whole day with only a bite or two. A friend of mine told me "Do you want to catch fish, or just fish?"

I said catch fish of course, and he said "OK, you do realize that 90% of a trout's feeding is below the surface? Start fishing below the surface if you want to catch a lot more fish."

I can say that locally the topwater bite has been good enough to keep me from "having" to go subsurface.

If, for whatever reason, the bite is really off while you're here you could come over to my place and yank some crappie out of the pond.

haha, thank you! I LOVE Cosby. Best kept secret in the Smokies. I just bought two more cabins there on CC for an investment - two loggers right there on the Creek! We are going out to check them out and see what all we need to buy for them.

Yep, I know the spot. I love his sign to the effect "Nothing is for sale". All of this crap is mine-all-mine.

We only moved here at the beginning of the year so I haven't explored a whole lot yet with home repairs and the like taking a lot of effort. I think I've only fished outside of the park a handful of times. The stockers, while (much) bigger just aren't as much fun for me. We live about a mile from the creek so I don't exactly have backyard access anyway and don't yet know anyone in the area.

I'd guess that the upper and middle sections of the creek would support browns but I'd be surprised if they could survive the local kill and grill community.

Congrats on the two new places. It sounds like you're a good ways upstream from us. We're down near the Front Porch and Janice's.

BTW: The Front Porch is running a buffet all day on Saturday with live entertainment. It's not the same as I hear it used to be, but they are doing a pretty good job and have some good dishes. Their baked beans alone are worth stopping in.

Yep, I know the spot. I love his sign to the effect "Nothing is for sale". All of this crap is mine-all-mine.

We only moved here at the beginning of the year so I haven't explored a whole lot yet with home repairs and the like taking a lot of effort. I think I've only fished outside of the park a handful of times. The stockers, while (much) bigger just aren't as much fun for me. We live about a mile from the creek so I don't exactly have backyard access anyway and don't yet know anyone in the area.

I'd guess that the upper and middle sections of the creek would support browns but I'd be surprised if they could survive the local kill and grill community.

Congrats on the two new places. It sounds like you're a good ways upstream from us. We're down near the Front Porch and Janice's.

BTW: The Front Porch is running a buffet all day on Saturday with live entertainment. It's not the same as I hear it used to be, but they are doing a pretty good job and have some good dishes. Their baked beans alone are worth stopping in.

So the folks around here tend to eat everything out of the creeks? We had a homeowner today flat out get angry with us because we were fishing in front of his house. I told him "Russ, this is Collin --- you know --- from Texas".

He said "I don't care who you are...get out of here!"

We weren't even on his land. I felt bad for my dad - he is elderly and has dementia and it kind of scared him - he just wanted to fish a little and would never hurt anyone. I don't know that he's ever kept a fish - he always turns them back, even the stockers.